By Steve McCorkle “Colonel”
This year has been a much different year as far as weather goes. Our winter was mostly warm, spring was cooler than normal and our summer is looking to be mild with high humidity and lots of rain. The water temps are cool for this time of year, especially upriver. With the lower temperatures the fishing has been very good. The biggest impact I believe we will have with the weather this year is that it may slow the lake turnover which will possibly affect fish from going deep later this summer. As for now, the fish are still relatively shallow, staying in water from 2 to 15 feet. The best time to fish is early in the morning and in the evening.
Bass can still be caught shallow, and most bass I have caught or seen caught have been on a Texas rig worm, trick worm or a swimbait. Largemouth and spots can be caught in the main lake around docks and along shallow points. On the river portion, the best bite is around grass beds and along the bank with structure. Shoal bass can be caught around the shoals on the north end of the lake. Bass are also biting well at night and can be caught around docks with lights. Just be aware that many homeowners will cut off their lights sometimes if they see people fishing them, so do not get upset with the homeowner. They do this because some fishermen or fisherwomen do not respect their property and have caused damage to docks and lights. The lights are very expensive, so who could blame them.
The crappie are still biting, but most crappie are being caught in water 10 feet or deeper. Crappie can be caught using minnows mostly around submerged structure around deeper water docks and around bridge pylons. Crappie are biting under the bridges at night.
Striped bass can still be caught this time of year, and I recommend fishing the shoals upriver for stripers or fishing in the morning or afternoon along shallow rocky points. The water temps at the shoals are still in the upper 60’s. The best baits are swimbaits, Rat-L-Traps, or spinners such as Red Fish Magic. I have seen some monster stripers in water as shallow as 2 to 4 feet busting on shad. It is almost like they are schooling like they do in early spring.
Sunfish are really biting right now. I was always taught that when you have a full moon in the summer and the mayflies are out, it was time to go fish the back of pockets where the bream beds are located. It is not hard to catch a cooler full of hand size bream or shellcrackers. Now is the time to take someone who is learning to fish or is younger and may not have truly caught on to fishing. Bream can be caught with crickets, red wiggler worms or with small artificial spinners or minnow baits like the 1/16 ounce Renosky Keystone Jig Minnow. Another fun way to catch sunfish is with a fly rod and small popper or foam fly. This can produce a lot of fish and can be very fun.
Catfish are biting now too. Fish the bottom around structure or on ledges and use bait such as chicken livers, stink baits or other live worms.
Good luck fishing.